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Tim Ive been itching for a rotary event since not going to DGRR this past year. Unfortunately this event is still 4 hours away for me. Just a tad farther than I want to drive. I’m not making DGRR this year either. My wife is having foot problems and impossible for her to walk which is my main excuse. If you go take pics and post or else, as Ray would say... “it didn’t happen”!!
Hey guys - Does anyone know of anyone who would be interested in an FB roller and some good spare parts? Long story short, I've got an '81 S with no engine or trans. It was setup with an LS1/T56 and has an FC front subframe, some decent aftermarket steering/suspension parts, FC brakes all around, 8" Ford rear with a 4.10 LSD and 3-link/panhard bar, extra FB suspension parts, extra FC suspension & brake parts, and two spare FB fuel tanks. I’ve also got a really cool set of Enkie 5 lug wheels on the car. The car comes with a clean title as well. I’ll definitely make a good package deal on as much as possible. I’d like to find a good home for this stuff and would hate to send it all to scrap. Does anyone know of anyone that may be interested locally?
If any of you guys are still interested in going to Deals Gap, the lodge is offering some really great rates... $105 for lodge rooms.
The CDC just announced that rotary engine exhaust coupled with fresh mountain air kills corona virus!!! lol
Hope everyone is staying well during this crazy time. I have an update and a question for you all regarding my SA. First, the update! A while back I posted about the FB-style distributor I bought from RockAuto that came with Ignitors, cost was ~$230. I have successfully integrated that and WOW. So much better than points. In case any of you were wondering how that would work out, so far so good.
Now for my question. I am doing some more brake-related work (already replaced rotors and pads on the front, master cylinder, planning to install stainless flex lines at the three locations on the vehicle). I just replaced the wheel cylinders and shoes on the rear (both sides, but one at a time, took pictures so I wouldn't mess it up). However now I am having problems getting the drums back on. Parking brake is retracted and cables do not seem to be in tension, tried doing it with the rear bleeder cracked open to make sure there was no pressure on the cylinders, adjusters are all the way down (bottom of shoes as inboard as they will go) and I am still having the issue. It seems like it's pretty slight, as in I could get it on with a mallet, but then the wheel won't turn. I have seen some posts that were similar on the forum, but it seems to usually be one of the things I just listed. Anyone experienced this or have any thoughts?
I was going to get you to check the adjusters, but you already thought of that possible issue, lots of people are not aware of the old fashioned adjusters found on the SAs.
One possibility could be caused by the fact that a lot of the replacement parts for these cars are coming from lower quality suppliers and it could be possible that the shoes are thicker than they should be.
The only other issue that comes to mind is that sometimes they will be tight until the get centered up. Maybe you could bump the drums on gingerly and tweak the shoes with the adjusters to see if you can get them to loosen up that way.
Also make sure you have the wheel cylinders truly bottomed out with the bleeder cracked open. New shoes are a tight fit at first. Sometimes you have to place the drum on there and then tap things around until they slide into place. Did you grease all the proper areas on the backing plate? That can help make positioning the shoes easier as well.
I did grease all of the contact points noted in the manual. As far as I can tell, the wheel cylinders are all the way retracted; I can't press one shoe in any more without it pushing the other one out. The material thickness seems comparable to the less-worn areas on the shoes I took out. I've already tried bumping the drums on, but like I said, the wheel won't turn and the force to get the drums on was a bit excessive. I have not tried messing with the parking brake adjustment yet, but the cables don't seem like they are in tension inside of the drum.
It seems like it's pretty slight, as in I could get it on with a mallet, but then the wheel won't turn.
Do that, then tighten / loosen /tighten /loosen the adjusters and see if that loosens it up any. You may be surprised.
If it does, do a very short test drive with several hard brake applications from a slow speed and see if that doesn't get them in the ball park.
Afterthought:
Did you replace the drums? I just remembered hearing complaints about cheap defective drums not being round, If that's the case it could cause your problem.
Last edited by rwatson5651; Mar 20, 2020 at 04:26 PM.
Think I got it. Parking brake adjuster. My guess is the previous owner or his mechanic were unaware of the non-self-adjusting drums and used it to compensate. Giveaway was the picture in the FSM showing it being adjusted using a slotted screwdriver. This one had been tightened well past the point where that would be possible. Drums on. Wheels turn.
Ouch. That was hard to watch. Also, the part when they go to open the hood: "eh, nobody cares about what's in there anyway." Bro doesn't even know what RX-7 means.
I could not fully understand the thread - Bottom line is I am interested in the rims ("I had a set of 15" x 7 1/2"wheels machined for my SE to my offset") and the suspension kit you show. If they are for sale, please let me know via "private message", its much easier for me to keep track of.
Thanks, Orlando
I could not fully understand the thread - Bottom line is I am interested in the rims ("I had a set of 15" x 7 1/2"wheels machined for my SE to my offset") and the suspension kit you show. If they are for sale, please let me know via "private message", its much easier for me to keep track of.
Thanks, Orlando
that reply was to Qingdao about the deck lid he posted a pic of. not sure what rims and suspension kit ur referring to but i have nothing like that for sale.